Certificate of Occupancy or Home Occupation Permit from Zoning Administrator

All LLCs in the District of Columbia must have one of the following from the Office of the Zoning Administrator (ZA):

Certificate of Occupancy, or

Home Occupation Permit

A Certificate of Occupancy is used for commercial buildings and a Home Occupation Permit is used for residential buildings.

Certificate of Occupancy (C of O):

A Certificate of Occupancy (“C of O”) is required if your business will rent office space or owns a commercial building in DC.

A Certificate of Occupancy can only be used for commercially-zoned buildings. Exceptions: multi-family dwellings (duplex, triplex, etc.), child development homes, bed & breakfasts, group homes, and other similar dwellings.

If you’re renting office space, it’s likely that the building’s Certificate of Occupancy will cover your business activities. You’ll need to get the C of O Number in order to enter it on your Basic Business License Application, which we’ll discuss in the next lesson.

Home Occupation Permit (HOP):

A Home Occupation Permit (“HOP”) is required if you work from home in DC.

It doesn’t matter if you own the home or rent the home; a Home Occupation Permit is required.

A Home Occupation Permit can only be used for residentially-zoned buildings.

Not required if:

A Certificate of Occupancy or Home Occupation Permit is not required if you don’t have a physical location in DC.

However, if you’re supposed to get a C of O or a HOP and you don’t, there will be serious fines and penalties from multiple government agencies in the District.

What address to use if you hired a Registered Agent?

If you hired a Registered Agent, such as Northwest Registered Agent ($125 per year), and you’ve used their address for your Registered Agent Address as well as your Business Address, you can’t use their address for your Certificate of Occupancy or Home Occupation Permit application. You’ll need to use the address in DC where you are actually operating from.

How to get a Certificate of Occupancy

If you need to get a Certificate of Occupancy for your District of Columbia LLC, please see this lesson:

How to get a Home Occupation Permit

Next Step: Basic Business License

Make sure you click one of the two links above to receive your Certificate of Occupancy or Home Occupation Permit. Once you have your C of O or HOP you’re ready to proceed to the next lesson: DC LLC Basic Business License.

Contact Info: Office of the Zoning Administrator

If you have any questions about your LLC’s Home Occupation Permit, you can contact the Office of the Zoning Administrator at 202-442-4576. Their office hours are 8:30am to 4:30pm, Monday through Friday.

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Disclaimer: Nothing on this page shall be interpreted as legal or tax advice. Rules and regulations vary by location. They also change over time and are specific to your situation. Furthermore, this comment section is provided so people can share their thoughts and experience. Please consult a licensed professional if you have legal or tax questions.

4 Comments

JonJanuary 23, 2020

If you are conducting business as an online business and do not conduct business out of an office do you need a C of O or HOP?

Also what if you are a foreign entity but do not have an office in the DC do you still need a C of O? (may have an employees in the here).

Lastly, are online businesses able to get a business license without a C of O or HOP?

Hi Jon, in what state is your LLC formed? And have you registered that LLC as a foreign LLC in the District of Columbia? If yes, what address/location are you using for your foreign LLC registration in DC? And if you have no location in DC, then why did you register your LLC as a foreign LLC? I just want to make sure we understand the context of your question. Thanks.

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